Two challengers, two incumbents win Cedar Rapids school board seats

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two challengers won election to the Cedar Rapids school board Tuesday, knocking off an incumbent board vice president and a five-term board member, while two other incumbents kept their seats.

Turnout among registered voters in the Cedar Rapids Community School District was 3 percent, with 2,494 voters participating. Four of the seven board seats were up for election, all for four-year volunteer terms.

In the District 4 race, challenger Rafael Jacobo defeated incumbent board Vice President Allen Witt by a wide margin, 65 to 35 percent.

In a race for two at-large seats, challenger Kristin Janssen (36 percent) and incumbent John Laverty (30 percent) came out on top.

Incumbent Ann Rosenthal (21 percent), first elected in 1999, fell short of securing a sixth term on the board. And challenger Todd Cohenour secured 12 percent of the vote.

Incumbent board President Mary Meisterling, running unopposed in the District 1 race, won election to a fifth term.

Improving the school district involves engaging schools and families, Jacobo said.

'It takes input from everybody,” he said Tuesday night. 'I think up to this point the district representatives we've had did the best they could with the situations they've had presented to them.”

Laverty said the district was 'looking for a new direction” with a new superintendent who took over July 1 and a community he said is re-energized after coping with the 2008 flood.

'I think there was a lot of sentiment in the community that the school district needs to refocus its efforts on what's best for students (and) make sure that we're not just focused on one area,” he said.

Laverty said he had talked to Janssen about running and said she would bring a 'really refreshing perspective to the school board.”

He commended Rosenthal and Witt for their service to the board.

Rosenthal said she was disappointed in the results but appreciated past support. She said lower-than-usual turnout caused by changes in polling locations this year contributed to her loss.

Cohenour said he was happy with the results despite finishing last.

'My personal goal was 100 votes,” he said. 'That's what I told all my friends, and I wanted to see what could happen. I was a one-man band, and I had no one backing me.”

'I got 505 votes,” he added. 'I was totally surprised and shocked.”

Witt, Janssen and Meisterling were not available for comment late Tuesday.

Results in other Linn County school board races were as follows:

' Linn-Mar Community School District: Newcomers Sondra Nelson, Clark Weaver and George Abouassaly and incumbent Tim Isenberg won four-year seats.

' Marion Independent School District: Newcomers Brent VanWey and Jill Hansen and incumbents David Law and Dennis Trout won four-year seats.

' Mount Vernon Community School District: Newcomers John Rhomberg, Denise Brannaman and Nannette Gunn and incumbent Mark Benesh Weldon won four-year seats. Newcomer Rick Elliott won a two-year seat.